MORGANTOWN - In the old days, one could walk around neighborhoods in the Mountain State and hear Jack Fleming call the play-by-play of WVU football games.
On Saturday, I imagined folks across the state were once again in unison.
When they uttered, "Oh no, not again."
Indeed, once again, the Mountaineers' special teams bugaboo appeared like a Halloween apparition and, once again, it has the team's fans scared.
West Virginia followers have seen it over and over in recent years. And over and over the finger has been pointed at assistant and special teams expert Joe DeForest.
On Tuesday, during WVU's weekly press conference, DeForest once again was on the hot seat.
Part of it, though, was because his behind was red with anger.
See, after a fine special teams start to the season, misadventures rattled the team in a loss to Oklahoma. The most egregious errors came via punt returns.
K.J. Dillon chose to return the Sooners' first punt from WVU's 7-yard line - and lost a yard. Later, freshman Gary Jennings caught a punt at his team's 4 and returned it 6 yards. In both instances, chances were the ball was headed into the end zone.
"They made bad decisions - both of them did," DeForest said. "We replaced K.J. and the other guy went in and did the same thing. They're taught to stand on the 10-yard line and don't back up."
You could almost see steam from his ears.
"That's Little League," DeForest continued. "So, we worked on it Sunday night. We'll work on it [Tuesday]. And [Wednesday] and Thursday and Friday. It's an inexcusable error that we have to, obviously, do a better job of coaching - because they apparently don't know where the 10 is."
It is a pretty simple concept. Find the 10. Don't step back.
Not surprisingly, Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen tried to take the heat off DeForest. He's done that in the past. He also tried to take heat off the players.
But in doing so, Holgorsen reminded all how bad the punt situation used to be - when he was so frustrated he wouldn't even put a returner on the field.
"We're fielding it, which is fantastic," Holgorsen said. "We have two inexperienced guys. I'll take the blame for that. We put [them] on the 15- or 20-[yard lines] and that kid kicked it about 65 yards. They had to run backwards to go field the ball. I thought they did a great job, but lost track of where they were."
He went on to say "last week's special teams play was a wash."
"We had a huge challenge with [Oklahoma's] return game and kept it in check," Holgorsen said. "So I consider that a wash. As an offensive guy, I'd prefer a little better field position, no question. But I don't care where we get the ball, we need to move the ball."
Actually, one could argue WVU's downfall Saturday started when Holgorsen chose to receive the opening kick after winning the coin toss. The Mountaineers did little with the possession and the battle of field position started to slide toward OU. After trading possessions, the slide turned into an avalanche.
Dillon's return to the 6 was the big blow at 11:14 of the first quarter. It set the tone.
"[Dillon and Jennings] obviously lost sight of where they were, but you have to have a feel of that," DeForest said. "If you're on the 15 and go back five yards, stop. If you're on the 10, don't back up. That's [taught] across the country. When you're in Little League you learn that."
Reason to bang one's head against the wall?
"I mean, yeah," DeForest said.
The assistant didn't seem ready to change the returners just yet.
"We're just going to work the guys we have back there and hopefully they can get a better feel for where they are on the field," he said.
He called the kickoff return team - which includes Shelton Gibson, Jovon Durante and Dillon - average.
"We haven't popped one," DeForest said. "Last year we led the league in kick return [averaging 23.9 yards]. We just haven't had an opportunity this year. The two we returned over the 35, we had holding calls. We're still working through it."
Ditto last Saturday's kicking miscues. WVU has two of the nation's strongest legs in punter Nick O'Toole and kicker Josh Lambert, but something was, well, afoot against Oklahoma.
O'Toole averaged 46.6 yards a punt, but hooked one off his foot for 37 yards into the stands in the second quarter. The short field resulted in an Oklahoma field goal. O'Toole also had a 26-yard punt in the fourth quarter but an ensuing interception helped erase that.
In regard to kickoffs, O'Toole opened the second half by booting one out of bounds. Mike Molina replaced him for the final three kickoffs.
"The one [punt] Nick missed ... I mean, he had a good day kicking, but he missed that one, forced it and came around a little bit," DeForest said. "We have to clean him up a little bit. He punted well except one, the very last one. We just have to continue to improve that position like every position."
DeForest said O'Toole has added kickoff duties in order to help improve his NFL stock.
"Yes, and he's working hard at it," said the assistant coach. "Sometimes he works too hard and that's why he pulls it. It's about foot placement on his plant foot and his toe placement on the ball."
DeForest indicated whichever kicker performed better in the week's practice would kickoff against Oklahoma State on Saturday. Odds are, however, that will be O'Toole.
Meanwhile, DeForest echoed Holgorsen by saying last Saturday's special teams play against Oklahoma was "a wash."
One can't argue though, some of that play stained WVU's effort.